


Of Bruises, Horror Movies and New Traditions

by bckwrds101



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Cheryl Blossom Needs a Hug, F/F, Gen, How Do I Tag, I don't know what I'm doing, I hate tagging, M/M, Sweet Pea Is The Best Friend Ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 01:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15719220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bckwrds101/pseuds/bckwrds101
Summary: The Serpents had their traditions, some between themselves, and some with outsiders. This is the story about how an unusual tradition started, involving a weird group of people gathered in Sweet Pea's living room.The Serpent Prince - who didn’t even want to be a serpent in first place-; the perfect school girl - with perfect grades, a perfect family and a perfect ponytail -; the Sheriff’s son - who'd already had an affair with one gang member and was about to have another one -; and Blossom - her last name said it all-. Plus, Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni, but they were not weird at all.(Also, Sweet Pea is clueless about Choni until he sat by their side during movie time.)





	Of Bruises, Horror Movies and New Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> Hm... hi!  
> So, I'm not really sure how to do this.  
> This is the first fanfic I post here so please, be understanding :)  
> And English is not my first language either, so I'm sorry for any mistakes.  
> With that being said, I hope you all like it.

The Serpents had their traditions, some between themselves, and some with outsiders. They had their Sunday barbecue tradition - a barbecue on the second Sunday of the month -; the bring a Ghoulie to Whyte Wyrm tradition was by far Sweet Pea's favorite, even though it was banned a couple years back; the Christmas charities were also really appreciated on the Southside, contrary to popular beliefs that the Serpents were mean or heartless. Their new tradition started out in a weird way.  
This is its story:

There was supposed to be a group work meeting happening, but the Blossom Princess came in late (bruises on her neck and wrists, followed by a storm that started on the Northside - if the northsiders wanted to ask what happened, no one really did. It wasn’t Sweet’s job to do so either) and Keller (Fangs’ new crush - Sweet Pea was reminded to treat him better every possible moment, despite being the sheriff’s son) mentioned, after her arrival, that the best thing to do in days like those involved horror movies and not a school project. The other two participants of the group (Jones and Miss Perfect Ponytail) agreed, so there Sweet Pea was, messaging Fangs and Toni to come to his trailer and bring some appropriate snacks. 

“Paranormal Activity” Cooper suggested, cheerfully. Boy, did that girls‘ mother really used to be a serpent? 

“Lame!” Jones interjected, to which Cooper pouted. Good job, Jones! At least you can say no to your girl a few times.

“There’s The Conjuring. We could watch all of them.” Keller suggested, and it wasn’t that bad of an idea.

“Or Insidious. I heard it’s scary.” Sweet Pea said, looking at them for approval. 

“Sounds cool.” Keller stated while Cooper nodded. Cooper... She was his friend’s girlfriend, shouldn’t they be in a first name basis relationship already, though? 

“Come on, guys.” Jughead crossed his arms and stood up “Are we really gonna watch these cliche horror movies?” The other serpent snorted, it was so like Jones to try to make a commotion about the movie they were going to watch.

“If we depend on you, we’re probably going to watch a 60’s with awful special effects and lame storyline movie, Jones. You don’t get to vote.” Sweet Pea could swear he heard a scoff coming from the Maple Syrup Girl, but since she hadn’t said anything after her arrival, he shook this thought away. 

“Whatever.” Jug sat down again, wrapping his arm around Betty’s - yep! First name basis, mothereffers - and kissing her temple as she giggled. 

Keller sat down between Betty and Blossom, glancing at the latter’s wrists for a while too long. She crossed her arms, neutral expression, looking ahead, and he looked away. Seems like there would be some gossip for Keller to share in school the next day, Sweet grinned.

Walking inside to get the blankets for everyone in the room, plus Toni and Fangs, he thought about the weird group of people in his trailer’s living room at the moment. The Serpent Prince, - who didn’t even want to be a serpent in first place- , the perfect school girl - with perfect grades, a perfect family and a perfect hairstyle -, the Sheriff’s son - who already had an affair with one gang member and was about to have another one - and Blossom - her last name said it all-. A Blossom anywhere near the Southside was already a sign of the apocalypse in Sweet Pea’s mind (although this one seemed extremely quiet and lacking all of her prejudicial remarks about the Serpents - who, to be fair, did help covering up her brother’s body).  
So he went back to the living room with a grin after giving some thought about the group, a few blankets in hand, knowing there weren’t enough, but they’d be okay to share. At least some of them, the serpent thought and stared at Blossom, thinking about the selfishness he was sure she possessed. The girl must have felt his eyes on her and looked back at him, taking her eyes of the spot she was staring ever since she arrived. There was something there, in her eyes. Something Sweet Pea had seen before but didn’t really suit a Blossom, he thought.

“I don’t have that many blankets” The boy said and everyone turned their attention to him “So you’ll have to share.” He started tossing around the blankets “One for the NorthSouth couple. One for Keller and Fangs, when he arrives.”  
With a second thought, Sweet added, looking at the couple and the other boy “Just because you’re covered up, doesn’t mean there are no other people in the room, remember that.” If he saw the blush creeping in Betty’s cheeks, he ignored it.  
“Toni and I will share one. Not for the same reasons, of course” He threw the blanket next to the redhead, who merely glanced at it. “And one for the princess. I’m sure she won’t want to mingle with the plebes.” Sweet Pea gave her the last one in hands, resisting the urge to mockingly bow when she got it.  
The redhead muttered a “thanks” before looking down at the blanket, that rested neatly in her lap.

Soon after the blankets were distributed and the places were assigned, the trailer’s door busted open and running came Fangs and Toni, laughing and holding some plastic bags full of snacks, Sweet Pea hoped.

“What’s up, guys!” Fangs looked at them all, with a smile that grew even larger when he saw his current love interest. 

“Hey!” Tiny greeted, also smiling as she looked around the room. The smile faded as she looked at Blossom Princess herself, seeing what everyone saw but minded their own business. The boy thought his friend was unhappy with the girls presence, which was understandable, but the thought only lasted a moment. He knew Toni well enough, she wasn’t unhappy. She seemed... worried? Angry? Something in between, definitely. But then again, who are the serpents to intrude the Northsider’s personal problems? Why would they even bother? They wouldn’t. 

“I heard we’re watching a dope horror movie.” Fogarty said while raising and shaking one of the plastic bags in the air “I hope everyone likes popcorn.”

“Thank you!!! I thought Sweets was trying to starve us to death!” Jughead said, excited about the popcorn.

“Didn’t you just eat a hamburger at Pop’s?” Sweet Pea asked, while Betty and Keller nodded.

“That was a whole 30 minutes ago!” Jones argued and everyone laughed. Well, everyone but the princess - Sweet Pea decided to stick to that nickname -, who must have grinned or offered a small smile, nothing more than that. 

“Whatever, Jones. Here’s the popcorn!” Toni tossed him a bag. “We’ll have hotdog for dinner, so don’t stuff yourself with only one snack” She warned.

“Hotdog! Yay!” Jones celebrated, mouth already full with popcorn, and Betty giggled, looking at him adoringly. Lovingly? Ew!

“Guys, the storm is getting worse.” Keller warned “We should start watching the movies!” He smiled as Fangs sat by his side, between him and Betty, already getting the clue of the blanket sharing deal.

Toni was the next one to sit, next to Northside Princess and her folded blanket. Was she that disgusted at the Southside that she couldn’t even use their freaking blanket? Sweet Pea decided not to stress about that, it was cold as hell - well, not literally - and it would be her loss. 

Whatever. He turned the lights off as Jughead selected the movie and sat beside Toni when it started, tossing the blanket around both of them. 

Fifteen minutes into the movie, all of them were already into it, nervously staring at the screen, no one daring to move and letting out sighs with the prospect of a new scare. 

Twenty minutes into it and Sweet Pea felt Toni slightly shuffle. He wouldn’t have felt it if they weren’t sharing a blanket, though. Tiny was sly as a fox, someone said it once, and all the serpents agreed, only being noticed when wanting to. 

The boy didn’t really mind it at first, whatever it was, couldn’t be better than the movie, maybe she just wanted some popcorn. But when it happened again, curiosity got the best of him and he glanced to his side, encountering a almost never imaginable sight: Toni Topaz silently unfolding Blossom’s blanket and wrapping it around her, making sure she was well covered. 

Well, that was weird. Although no one seemed to have noticed it but him. He just shrugged the sight off and turned his attention to the movie again. Toni always did have a soft side for the beaten puppies or whatever. Her trying to help shouldn’t be a surprise, even if the object of that help was the Northside princess herself.  
Thirty minutes into the movie, Toni moved again, and Sweet Pea, curious to see the next weird happening, discreetly looked at her, only to see her take her arm off the comfort and warmth of the blanket and put it around Blossom’s waist, pulling her close until their sides were touching.  
That might have been unexpected, of course, but what came after that was even more. The freaking Northsider actually laid her head on Toni’s shoulder, moving closer so that her face was almost burying in his friend’s neck. As if she really wanted it, as if she took comfort in it. That Sweet Pea could not understand. Not at all. So when Toni took her other arm off her blanket to softly hold Blossom’s hand, drawing random patterns on it with her finger, Sweet Pea couldn’t help but widen his eyes in surprise and something else, something he couldn’t quite explain, turning his body to actually take a look at them.

His sudden body shift made Kevin turn his head away from the TV to look at them. When he encountered the same view Sweet Pea did, his eyes flashed with understanding and sorrow, giving Toni a small smile before cuddling back with Fangs and looking at the screen again. 

Sweet Pea, however, couldn’t do the same, and kept glaring at Toni, who didn’t move her head to look at him, even though he knew she sensed his eyes on him. It wasn’t until he crossed his arms that she looked at him, carefully moving her head from the crown of the princess’ head, making the latter shuffle even closer, pulling her knees up to her chest while Toni still held her waist and her hand.

To say the serpent boy expected an explanation was an understatement. He expected a freaking two hundred pages theses on why was his best friend being so friendly and cuddly with the girl that expressed all his hate and distaste for their family from day one (He didn’t really consider the fact that the said girl was there for almost one hour and a half already and hadn’t made one remark about their living situation, the Southside or the serpents in general). All he got from Toni, however, was a pointed look, almost begging him to drop the matter and focus on the film again.  
‘You know nothing, Pea.’ The boy could almost hear her voice ‘Just leave it alone. And leave her alone.’ If eyes could speak that was what Toni wanted them to say, Sweet Pea was sure. So he dropped it. For his friend’s sake. He also knew better than to kick someone when their down, and Cheryl Blossom was clearly not up in the clouds at that moment. 

The movie was loud. Even louder were Keller and Coop-Betty’s screams once in a while, so it was understandable that one may think their sobs wouldn’t be heard in such circumstances. Sweets had to give it to Blossom, he wouldn’t even have heard it if it weren’t for Toni beside him, moving her arms up and down the girl’s arms - for some reason, he didn’t want to think of a mocking nickname after that -, caressing her hair and pulling her close, to the point where Blossom was almost sitting on his friend’s lap, knee still up to her chest, but now her body was towards Toni and not the movie at all. 

None of the girls seemed to be paying attention to the movie anymore, but the sobs had subsided considerably. Sweet Pea felt like an intruder, glancing at them once in a while to - well, for no reason at all? Or to make sure things were better? He didn’t really know. All he knew was that at one point, he was looking at some weird old woman on TV, and at another he was unwrapping the blanket from his body and tossing it around the girl and his friend. No words said, only a thankful smile from Toni, who then, held the girl closer - if that was even possible - and pecked the top of her head, caressing the girl’s hair.

The movie was almost over, thank God, because Sweet Pea was sure that if he heard Cooper scream one more time, serpent’s girlfriend or not, he was going to have to use his knife to cut her tongue out. After the impulsive blanket sharing, Sweets decided to give the girls the much needed privacy, or as much privacy as they could get in a room full of high schoolers. So, knowing the movie was reaching its end, he glanced to his side to check on the situation and saw Toni carefully wiping Blossom’s cheek, trying to get rid of any trace of tears, and help the girl back to her original position - sitting beside Keller, feet on the ground, staring at the TV - before anyone other then them saw what happened.  
Out of impulse, once again, after looking at the Northsider’s face and seeing nothing but pain and fear, Sweet Pea held his bag of popcorn and in front of her, figuring she hadn’t really eaten during the movie. She hesitantly looked at him and put her hand inside the bag and grabbed some, smiling at him in gratitude before eating the popcorns.

Movie ended, lights on, everything back to normal - or at least close to it -, it was dinner time. Hotdogs, as Toni and Fangs had announced before. The serpents prepared it while the Northsiders sat and waited, Sweet Pea could see Betty and Kevin - first name basis given the progress with Fangs during the movie - engaged in a conversation, doing everything possible to include Blossom in it, who only nodded or shook her head once in a while. 

Toni was also observing the trio, shooting the redhead worried glances once in a while, Sweet Pea saw from his side view. Probably wondering what to do to make the girl feel better, or how to at least try somehow. He was going to make sure to ask her about what happened today later, away from the others, but for what he could see before asking her, there was more to her relationship with the girl than his friend let on. 

After a few minutes, the hotdogs were ready to be eaten. They made sure to have enough for everybody, preparing at least 5 for Jughead, even though he swore he was only going to eat 3. But better to be safe than sorry.  
Every person in the room grabbed a hotdog. Everyone but Blossom. Sweet Pea saw Toni sit next to her and offer hers, but the girl just shook her head and smiled a little - at least she was looking better than she was when she arrived, and even better than when the movie was playing -.

“It’s not poisoned or whatever, Cheryl.” Sweet Pea heard Jughead say roughly, and fought the urge to roll his eyes “Betty and Kevin are eating it, so why aren’t you?Disgusted?” He asked, with a smirk that made the taller serpent want to punch those teeth off for some reason.

“I’m not disgusted.” It was all that she retorted, glaring at Jughead for a while before looking down again. 

“Whatever.” He shrugged “Your loss! My win!” 

“I call dibs on Cheryl’s hotdog.” Fangs said, before taking a big bite of his own.

“What?” Jughead almost jumped from his seat “No! I said my win! My win means I called dibs first.” 

Fangs just shook his head while eating and, with his mouth empty, started to argue with Jughead about who was going to eat the hotdog.

“You have five already!”

“But what if I want six?”

“Not fair!”

“Fair enough!”

The discussion, however, was shortly cut by Toni’s sudden realization and question.  
“Cheryl, have you ever eaten a hotdog?”

Fangs was in the middle of asking “What kind of question-“ when they all saw Cheryl shake her head.

“WHAT?” Everyone but Kevin - who probably knew more than he showed - asked, staring at her as if she were an alien or something. 

“What do you mean you’ve never eaten a hotdog?” Sweet Pea was the first to ask, heading over to the girl to hear her answer, since he imagined it wouldn’t really be that loud. 

“My mother never let me have it.” She shrugged while explaining and the serpent saw Toni tense up at the mention of the girl’s mom. “And I was never in the position to disobey her, I guess.”

What kind of mother wouldn’t let her daughter even eat some hotdogs? Of course they weren’t the healthiest choice, the boy thought, but they didn’t really kill when eaten once in a while. Or once every Serpents Sunday barbecue, for Sweet Pea, Toni, Fangs and Jughead. 

“Why don’t you try it now? She's not here.” Fangs asked, obviously implying that no one would ever tell Penelope Blossom that Cheryl did such thing, as simple and no wrong as it seemed to be.

“Now, I just figure I didn’t miss out on much. And since I never had it, it’s better not to try it instead of spitting it out in case I don’t like it.” She explained and Sweet Pea realized why she didn’t accept it then, if she had eaten it, disliked it and spat it out, her reaction would be understood as exactly what Jughead said before: disgust.

“Take a bite.” The serpent said as Toni offered hers.

“I might not like it.” The redhead glanced at the food in front of her.

“Just try to get to the bathroom before you throw up then, princess.” Sweet Pea chuckled, not mocking her with the nickname, just trying to be friendly. He was in a gang, there’s no guarantee that a friendly approach wouldn’t involve a silly nickname once in a while. She seemed to understand that, since she smiled at him before looking back at the hotdog.  
“Don’t think too much, Red.” He added “The more you think, the less you’ll be likely to do it.” 

“He’s right.” Toni agreed and held the hotdog a little closer to the girl’s mouth. 

Sweet Pea heard her sigh before taking a bite. He looked around and saw everyone waiting for her reaction in expectation, as if their days depended on her judgment of the food she just took a bite of. The boy couldn’t lie, he definitely was waiting for her reaction too, so when he saw her look up after swallowing her first bite, eyes lit up - holding something other than the pain it held before - and a smile on her face, he decided that’s the sight he wanted to see from now on. As cute as the girls were, all curled up and hugging in the couch, he hoped it would happen for better reasons in the future. 

Suffering didn’t suit a Blossom, Sweets thought. It shouldn’t, at least. Not when she was supposed to have so much and supposed to have lived so happily and comfortably with the Blossom fortune. But seeing her the way he did today during the movie and seeing how happy - or less sad - she’d been after trying a food as simple as a hotdog for the first time, it made him wonder about the life she’d lived so far (and his own, in consequence).

“Is there anything else you were not allowed to eat?” Betty took him away from his thoughts when she asked Cheryl - first name basis? No? Probably? - what everyone was wondering.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “So many things, cousin Betty.”

“Make a list.” Sweet Pea suggested as Fangs nodded, knowing where his friend’s thoughts were going.

Something told him that Cheryl would be around more often now that he’d seen Toni and hers interaction, and he was surprisingly okay with that.

“We’ll have to check one item a week, at least.” He explained and all of the group agreed with the idea, excitedly.

“Okay.” Cheryl nodded, although Sweet Pea didn’t miss Toni’s smile and encouraging hand on her back. 

And that’s how the group’s Weekly Making Cheryl Try Things She Was Never Allowed To Try Before tradition started.


End file.
